Incident on Wilson Avenue
At around 1am on Saturday an incident took place on Wilson Avenue in my ward. I have since attended a meeting at John St police station with senior officers and community representatives, and I am grateful to police for sharing information on the incident with me. An investigation is ongoing and I have full confidence in how this matter is being dealt with, though most of the details have to remain confidential at this point.
However the police have authorised the following information:
Operation Wilson relates to the IPCC investigation around the fatal crash that occurred in the early hours of Saturday 9th February, after a vehicle failed to stop for Police. The vehicle was seen by two officers, patrolling in a marked police vehicle, in Meadowview Brighton; it was carrying 5 people. The Police Officers followed the vehicle into Wilson Avenue, where it failed to stop and consequently crashed in to a wall.
One person tragically died in hospital following the incident, all others received hospital treatment, and one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.
I will update this information as and when I can.Because police were involved at the time of the incident, an investigation is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. They are dealing with all media enquiries and their statement is here.
My thoughts are with the families of those people involved in the crash. If it is confirmed that they are from Whitehawk I am sure that the strong local community there will want to focus on supporting those families as they deal with what has happened. The Independent Police Complaints Commission are investigating what took place and everyone should await the outcome of that investigation before giving any further reaction. I will be working with the community, the police and colleagues in the council to provide whatever support is necessary following this tragic incident.
Advice Surgeries - Craven Vale
East Brighton councillors will be holding advice surgeries in Craven Vale on the last Saturday of each month. Forthcoming dates are 29th March, 26th April, 31st May and 28th June.
The surgeries will take place in The Shed community room from 11am to 12 noon.
Appointments are not necessary but if you can let any one of the three councillors know you are attending it will help.
Message in a bottle..
Ok, before angry restauranteurs start coming after me with half filled bottles of mineral water, let me clarify. What I'm proposing to council on 13th March is:
- the city council returns to serving tap water at meetings rather than bottled water where practicable.
- that restaurants who don't already do it be encouraged to serve tap water perhaps by means of a local competition to design carafes, along the lines of the campaign in London. The thinking is, if it looks good on the table, that trendy bottle might not be needed.
The council can't ban bottled water (in the same way it can't ban plastic bags) nor would it want to. But, in general, bottled water is not a good thing in terms of its carbon footprint, unless sourced locally. Some have said, why just ban bottled water, why not wine or beer? Well, you can't get wine or beer free from a tap like you can with water...
As the report on BBC South East showed, to many people tap water tastes as good as bottled, and if you don't think it does, try it filtered with ice and lemon, it's fine.
All I'm saying is, drink more water, it's good for you, but at least think before buying a bottle about whether it is the best alternative environmentally. And if you do buy a bottle, try to re-use or recycle it.